Social Media is personal – Gary Vaynerchuk

Good old Gary Vaynerchuk does a great job of distilling the importance of social media and how it can lift your business. Watch the video below. I'm adding my own bullet points in addition to highlights from Gary's talk.

• The way business used to built was on the relationship.
• Social media level sets that relationship, the new marketing is marketing to the individual.
• Stop thinking short term, run the marathon don't run the sprint.
• If you like it then you better put a ring on it.
• Don't treat social media like it's a one night stand. Make the commitment.
• Everyone is acting like a teenager in social media settings - trying to close the deals without starting the conversation.
• You don't want to bet on the culture shift because it doesn't happen in the next 20 minutes. Make the bet.
• For the first time ever it's not push, it's a cocktail party. That's uncomfortable for marketers.
• Thank you economy is offense. Customer service is defense.
• Find your clients on social media and find out what they love.
• What you can learn is about your customer, not just his shopping habits. What are their emotional triggers, find them and thank them, be one to one.
• It's about lifetime value not the purchase today.
• Say thank you. People are in sales mode, customers don't expect to simply be thanked.
• We are social creatures. We want to express ourselves. It's the same in social.
• Social media is about listening, not talking. Listen and learn.
• Word of mouth is the currency. Now we have the infrastructure to enable word of mouth.
• We all live in the same business. You're in the eyeballs and ears business.
• We're iving through a massive cultural shift. We need to create context.
• Companies have the opportunity to move from a non-human to a human relationship and image.
• Create real conversation with your fans, be more than a press release.
• Marketers turn everything into a tactic.
• Create an emotional connection with your customers

There's more to come here, but if you're in business or in marketing do yourself a favour and absorb this.